Page 285 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

272 Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Fig. 17.10 A roll of lace fixed on a vertical fabric feeder with lace fixed at the beginning of a
spreading table.

When spreading thicker and wider lace (10–40 cm wide), the fabric plies are cut off,
so the ends of the spread are not thickened (see Fig. 17.8).
If precise coordination of the pattern is required in all areas of the lace and the pattern
is positioned in one direction only, the fabric is spread using the ‘face to face in single di-
rection’ mode (see Section 4.3.4), cutting it off at the end of each ply (see Fig. 17.9). The
end of a ply should ideally finish at the same position in the fabric pattern where the next
ply starts (see Fig. 17.11). If the fabric pattern at the end of the ply does not coincide with
the starting position of the fabric pattern in the next ply, the length of the marker must
be extended. This spare fabric will be cut off during the cutting process (see Fig. 16.2).
The maximum number of plies in a spread depends on the type of lace and its
properties. Wide lace (10–40 cm wide), with a pattern requiring precise coordination,
may be spread up to 20 plies. Narrow lace (up to 10 cm wide) that does not require the
pattern to be coordinated may be spread up to 40 plies. Embroidered lace within the
areas of pattern will be thicker; therefore, it is not advisable to make high spreads that
may result in the displacement of the plies. When all the fabric plies have been laid, the
tops of the metal pins are covered, the prepared spread is folded, and a set of pattern
pieces are added (see Fig. 17.12).

Second ply First ply

Fig. 17.11 Two fabric plies coordinate with the pattern.